by Libby, Seth
Setting his fighter to maximum speed, he sped away from the asteroid field on course for N-6. The flight was uneventful, as they did not run into any Shenkar forces. Tim’s voice broke the silence after roughly twenty minutes.
“Odd, I would have thought we would have seen some Shenkar forces still entering the system. They have been pretty steady since they first came here. Do you think they have assembled their full fleet?”
“It is possible, but from what I have heard, we have severely diminished their fleet. If they assault Earth now, they will lose. They don’t have the numbers to beat the defense force we should have assembled by now.”
“Doesn’t make any sense, then. Do you think maybe they have decided against attacking Earth?” asked Tim.
“It is possible. Seeing as we have done so much damage with just one battlecruiser, they might feel we are an enemy they won’t be able to defeat. But that is something I just can’t see them doing. From my time fighting them and from what I know of them from being captured, I don’t believe they would give up. That command center they have is big enough to produce new warships and clones to crew those ships. If anything, all we have done is slow them down enough to give Earth the time it needed.”
They continued on for the next hour in silence. It was just as they reached N-6 when they again broke the silence.
“Sir, I am picking up something on the scanners. Cycling out interference--it will be a few seconds.”
Tim continued on working on the scanners until Liam heard a sharp intake of breath from behind him.
“What is it, Tim?” asked Liam.
“Sir . . . it is another Shenkar fleet,” Tim said quietly.
Checking his scanners he saw what Tim was talking about. Shenkar warships were stationed just outside the system.
“How many and what kinds?” asked Liam.
Several seconds passed as Tim allowed the scanners to gather the necessary information before he spoke. “Fifty warships in total. Configurations are as follows: fifteen battlecruisers, twenty Shizrec-class cruisers, and fifteen Kelgen-class destroyers. My god, Liam, with this support, they will outnumber the Earth Defense Force. It is as if we have done nothing this whole time. We need to get back to the base and let the Admiral know what we have discovered.”
November 12, 2012, 1:54 p.m. ESTEDF Asteroid Base
“Another fleet? Fifty warships?” asked the Admiral, not bothering to hide the distress in his voice at the news.
“Yes, sir. There are also close to another fifty support ships. From what Mr. Wellmo and I were able to ascertain, they seem to be just sitting there. None of the ships have entered the system,” said Liam.
“Sir, we need to get a message to the defense force. They are expecting a force they can manage. If this fleet combines with the remains of the Dread Fleet, then Earth will fall,” said Commander Dunklin.
Admiral Kelvin turned away from the group and walked to the communications station, addressing the young man currently on duty.
“Mr. Dormer, link us to the communications buoy. We need to relay a message to Earth immediately.”
The young officer hurriedly turned back to his keyboard and began punching keys. He then leaned forward to read the screen before him, a frown on his face. Leaning back, he began to punch the keys again, his frown getting deeper as he worked.
“Is there a problem, Mr. Dormer?” asked the Admiral.
“Yes, sir. I have tried to bring up the relay buoy, but it isn’t responding. It’s as if it is off-line.”
“Or destroyed,” muttered Tim quietly from behind Liam.
As if hearing Tim’s words, the Admiral spoke them aloud. “Could it have been destroyed? Is it possible the Shenkar have found our relay buoy?”
“I can’t really say for sure, sir, but yes, it is a good possibility,” answered the young comm officer.
Turning back to the others, the Admiral rejoined them. No one spoke and all wore grave looks on their faces, for they all knew what this meant. If these new Shenkar forces combined, then Earth would be engaging a fleet twice the size of what they were expecting. Several minutes passed as they all stood there, processing this new dilemma.
“Our need to warn Earth is even greater. We need to capture a Shenkar warship, and we need to do it soon. I doubt once the two fleets merge, they will continue to inhabit this system,” said Admiral Kelvin.
Before anyone could voice their thoughts on the subject, a mechanical voice spoke from behind him. “Do we need to remind you of the danger of coming in close contact with the Shenkar? We have told you of the contagions they carry. It is highly possible your entire crew could be infected and die,” said Jaera.
The Admiral didn’t say anything at first; instead, he just looked at the Meshtrell as he frowned. “What is the real reason you don’t want us to board a Shenkar warship? I find it hard to believe that it is because of the possibility of a contagion. Everything we have on the Shenkar shows they would rather rule over a race than destroy it. That would mean living among their slaves to rule them. If they carried such infectious diseases, then they would soon rule over no one.”
“Perhaps they are immune to the Shenkar diseases. I cannot say, for any race enslaved has yet to be liberated,” explained Jaera.
“You have an answer for everything, don’t you? Well, no matter. There is no reason to believe we will be any different. We will proceed with our plan to capture a Shenkar warship with or without your approval,” said the Admiral, his voice laced with anger.
Jaera didn’t respond. Instead the little grayling just turned and walked from the command center. Satisfied, the Admiral turned back to the small group.
“Now, we need to construct a plan to take a warship with as minimal casualties as possible. To tell you the truth, I am at a loss for ideas. Any plan I can think of leaves us vulnerable until we can get the warship online and out of the area,” explained the Admiral.
Everyone was quiet for a long time as they all tried to think of ways they could capture a warship.
“Maybe we can capture a Shenkar warship without any casualties,” said Liam quietly.
The entire group turned to look at Liam. Liam looked from one face to the next without speaking. To Evan, it seemed as if he hadn’t wanted to talk about his idea.
“Care to explain, Mr. Brennan?” asked the Admiral.
“Well . . . I know of where we can find a Shenkar battlecruiser.”
Snorting, the Admiral shook his head as he spoke. “A battlecruiser? I don’t think we could take down the crew of a Shenkar battlecruiser without losing many men and women. The crew of a Shenkar battlecruiser number upward of two thousand.”
“There isn’t a crew on board . . . not alive, at least,” explained Liam softly.
“What happened to the crew? It wasn’t this disease the Meshtrell spoke of, was it?” asked Admiral Kelvin.
Liam sighed loudly as he ran a hand through his hair before he answered. Ever since Liam had returned, it had been obvious something had been occupying his thoughts and causing him distress. Now Evan felt that he was to find out what it was.
“No, a disease didn’t happen to the crew . . . I happened to the crew.”
“What do you mean, you happened to the crew?” asked the Admiral.
“I killed them . . . I killed them all. When I was captured and injected with that chemical agent, I sort of lost it. I broke free and attacked every Shenkar I found. I didn’t attempt to escape; it never even crossed my mind. Instead I sought out every living Shenkar aboard the battlecruiser and killed them,” Liam said softly.
No one said anything. Even the crew seemed to be holding their breaths, waiting to see what transpired.
“Where is this battlecruiser?” asked the Admiral simply.
“Beyond the edges of this system, hidden in the shadow of a lifeless planet. I can take you there if you wish,” replied Liam.
Without responding to Liam, the Admiral turned to the Commander and spoke.
> “Get six Omega shuttles prepped. I want your best men for boarding to eliminate any opposition we may encounter. Also, prep a like number of squadrons for escort.”
“There won’t be any opposition, sir,” Liam said quietly.
November 12, 2012, 2:25 p.m. ESTShenkar Cruiser Zratek
Shizta studied the display in front of him of the battlecruiser that appeared to be floating dead in space.
“No life signs, you say?” asked Shizta.
“No, Overlord,” answered the Shenkar warrior before him.
Shizta continued studying the display in silence for several seconds.
“Prepare a Drelai gunship; we are going over there.”
Without waiting for confirmation, Shizta turned about and marched from the bridge, heading for the main hangar.
The ride over was uneventful, and within no time, the gunship was docking with the Tryliene. As the ramp lowered to the deck floor, Shenkar warriors preceded Shizta to take up defensive positions. Not showing any signs of concern, Shizta marched down the ramp and out of the hangar. Immediately, upon exiting, Shizta came to a halt. Bodies of Shenkar warriors were everywhere: most were missing one limb or more, and all suffered from severe burns. As Shizta moved about the bodies, he found that they all had one thing in common--they were all dead.
“Spread out. If anyone finds anything, signal me--anything unusual or definitely anyone alive,” commanded Shizta.
Shenkar warriors split up into groups and marched off. Shizta and two remaining warriors made their way to the Tryliene’s bridge. The entire way they saw the same scene: Shenkar warriors, all dead, burned, and dismembered, strewn throughout the passageways. As they got closer to the bridge, it seemed to Shizta that the fallen warriors were more and more dismembered--as if the killers became more and more ferocious with their attacks. Shenkar limbs were everywhere, but organs spilled out as well and seemed to have been pulled free and dragged down the passageway a bit. Bloody handprints smeared their way along the walls. Just before they came to the bridge, the bodies were so badly mutilated that it was impossible to recognize what part belonged to what body.
As Shizta entered the bridge, he examined the remains of the bridge doors that hung to either side of the entrance. Both doors appeared to have been torn free. The bridge was a site that chilled even Shizta’s bones. It appeared the crew made their last stand here. If Shizta had thought the bodies had been dismembered before, what he saw here didn’t compare. The bodies were burned and had limbs severed off, but it looked as if the attackers had gone one step further. Every one of the Shenkar warriors’ heads had been severed and piled upon the holographic table. But that was not the worst of it. Entrails had been dragged from their bodies and strung up all throughout the bridge. This was a morbid site of what looked like someone’s idea of gruesome art. It took some careful maneuvering to make their way over to the internal security terminal through the hanging entrails and blood-slicked floor.
“Bring up the security records. I want to see who the assaulting force was that would do this,” commanded Shizta.
A warrior hurried forward to the terminal, pushed aside some entrails that lay on the keyboard, and began to punch keys. Soon the monitor lit up and began to display old internal footage.
“Overlord, I have found something,” said the warrior.
Leaning over the warrior’s shoulder, he studied the display. Immediately he was annoyed with the warrior for not doing what he had asked. Sure, this showed a human attacking Shenkar warriors, but where was the rest of the assault force?
“I asked for footage of all the assault force, not just of one human!” barked Shizta at the warrior.
“Overlord, this is the only footage of who attacked the crew. There are time stamps of the entire battle throughout the ship. This one human is responsible for all of our dead warriors.”
Shizta stared at the display in disbelief. How was it possible that this human could have done all of this? If one human was capable of killing an entire battlecruiser’s crew, then what could millions of these humans do? The Supreme Overlord’s Dread Fleet could be decimated if all humans fought with such ferocity. However, Krailsha would not believe him. He must go to the Shelecore--the Shelecore must be warned.
“Make a copy of the footage--we are leaving,” commanded Shizta.
Within minutes, Shizta was heading back toward the hangar bay where his gunship awaited, when suddenly his comlink chimed. The voice of his second-in-command aboard the Zratek spoke over the link. “Overlord, we have picked up enemy incoming on vector three eight. Configurations show them to be six enemy shuttles accompanied by six squadrons of fighters. Estimated time of arrival: thirty minutes.”
“Do they know we are here as well?” asked Shizta
“No, sir, we are positioned in the shadow of the Tryliene.”
“Get the fold engines online. We will be leaving as soon as I arrive. Set coordinates for our system . . . as far as the engines will take us toward Shryka.”
“To the home world, sir? We will not be rejoining the fleet?”
“No, I have found a greater threat that the Shelecore must be made aware of.”
Shizta cut off the communication as he thought of how he should probably warn Krailsha of this new development. Then again, Krailsha was the only one who knew, or rather suspected, the real reason the Krazzeen was destroyed. With Krailsha out of the way, Shizta’s rise to Supreme Overlord was still a possibility. Let the arrogant fool die, he decided. It is nothing less than what he deserves.
November 12, 2012, 3:05 p.m. ESTEDF, Battlecruiser Tryliene
Evan eased his fighter forward in front of the shuttle to put a barrier between the Shenkar battlecruiser and the shuttles. Liam said it was dead in space, but anything was possible. While he wanted to trust his best friend, he still wouldn’t take any chances. No enemy energy cannons fired upon them as they approached, and a cold chill ran down his spine. If the ship was truly dead, then Liam hadn’t been exaggerating about killing the crew.
Docking was also uneventful. Two squadrons landed, followed by the shuttles. The four remaining squadrons remained on patrol outside just in case of any unexpected arrivals.
Climbing down from his fighter, he unhooked his plasma sword. Looking around the hangar, Evan saw nothing out of the ordinary that indicated the massacre that Liam described. Callen’s squadron, who was the other squadron that accompanied the landing crew, took up defensive positions around the Admiral along with three squads of marines. Liam, Evan, and the rest of their squadron followed closely behind. Remaining behind with the shuttles were the two engineering crews and four more squads of marines. Also waiting with them were two Meshtrell, as the Admiral had adamantly refused their requests to accompany the crews. Evan had to agree with the Admiral; he had the funny feeling they had another agenda.
As soon as they exited the hangar, Evan saw the carnage. Shenkar lay dead everywhere. Most looked to be horribly burned, with large holes through various parts of the bodies revealing the burnt organs beneath. Here and there, several sections of the bulkhead were dented in with a Shenkar body below it, showing all signs of having been thrown with extreme force. Everywhere were the limbs of the warriors, cauterized at the end where they had been severed. For all the limbs, there was surprisingly little blood. If Evan were to guess, he would say the weapon had been a plasma sword.
No one spoke as they all took in the scene. After several minutes, the Admiral turned to Liam. “Well, Mr. Brennan, it seems you weren’t exaggerating. What should we expect to find?”
Then seeing the sick look on Liam’s face, the Admiral stepped forward and, in a low voice, said, “It’s okay, son. You had been under torture and gone through an incredible ordeal. I don’t expect someone to be in total control of their faculties when they undergo what you went through. What we see from here on will not change my opinion of what a fine young man and excellent soldier you are.”
Liam seemed to look a little better at the Ad
miral’s words and nodded his head slightly.
Turning back to the men, he addressed two of the marine squads and Callen’s squad. “We need to secure this ship as fast as possible so we can bring the engineering crews aboard. I want you men to search this ship for any possible survivors. Report immediately if you find anyone.”
Saluting, the three squads moved off in the opposite direction from where Liam had said the bridge would be. After briefly watching them go, the Admiral signaled for everyone to move out.
Slowly, they moved through the ship toward the bridge. As they went, Evan couldn’t help but notice that the closer they got to the bridge, the more intense the carnage became. More and more blood became evident, as if Liam had no longer fought with his sword. It seemed as if he had purposely made his attacks more grisly. Evan could only imagine what Liam must have gone through to have resorted to such savagery in his attack upon the ship’s crew.
After what felt an eternity of maneuvering their way through the seemingly endless trail of bodies, they finally arrived at the bridge. The doors hung limply to either side as if they had been torn free by some tremendous force. Marines rushed forward through the door and onto the bridge. Not waiting for the all clear, the Admiral stepped through the doorway, the rest following. No one spoke as they all surveyed the gruesome scene; the only sound was retching from one of the marines who was bent over, expelling his last meal. The Admiral wasted no time as he spoke up.
“All right, let’s get this tub up and running. Contact the engineering crews and have one of them come here. Send the other one to get vitals systems back online throughout the ship. Have a marine squad accompany each of the engineering crews and leave two squads with the shuttles. Each of the crews is to be accompanied by a Meshtrell; I do not want the Meshtrell wandering about alone. Inform them that this is not a request. As soon as we are online and we can move this ship, I want to start bringing over the rest of the pilots. We don’t have a lot of time, and I want to get this ship hidden before the Shenkar come looking for her.”